Ryo-Ohki's Alchemy
by Mike Fenton
Summary: A reinterpretation of episode 10.



    Author: Mike Fenton
    Title: RYO-OHKI'S ALCHEMY
    Notes: Misc., Narrative Poem
    Summary: A poetic telling of Ryo-Ohki's transformation.
    

[Disclaimer: Tenchi Muyo! and its characters are the property of AIC and Pioneer LDC, Inc. and was created by Masaki Kajishima. This work is strictly intended to be apocryphal, and should in no way be construed otherwise. This poem is a reinterpretation of episode 10 ("I Love Tenchi").]

  


O hard-believing love, how strange it seems  
Not to believe, and yet too credulous!

--Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis

  
Ryo-Ohki's Alchemy   


The morning sky was bright and clear  
As Sasami hurried down the pier--  
Mihoshi, as always, at her side  
As, there, Ryoko her fishing plied--

Strange for one who'd seldom wait,  
And stranger still, with carrots as bait;  
Their curious use a mystery  
Till a pull on the line revealed Ryo-Ohki.

Donned in a wetsuit, holding a fish,  
It seemed that she would get her wish,  
But it squirmed and soon it swam away,  
And nothing for this would Ryoko pay.

***

Sitting at his closet, Tenchi took stock,  
Putting away some old clothes in a box  
And taking some out that he left in another,  
Discovered a token of his departed mother.

And now as he gazes on the kimono she wore  
Her smile returns to cheer him once more:  
So, now his eyes yield as his heart lifts  
And with a sad sigh returns to his shifts.

Later, he returned, to welcoming cries  
And a strange, but somehow pleasant, surprise.  
For a moment he thought his mother he viewed  
As staring all numbly while his mind construed.

So, as it seemed that harps were playing,  
His mind and his heart in a war of assaying,  
Ryoko stood in the kimono and smiled  
In the way that most Tenchi's mind beguiled.

Twirling away as he made his way nearer,  
She asked if the outfit made her seem dearer.  
And Tenchi, hardly one to disagree,  
Ryoko was vaulted to a state of pure glee.

In ecstasy, she spun toward the door  
Till finding one sleeve on the handle tore.  
And despite Tenchi's look of utter heartbreak,  
She tore away the other for balance's sake.

Too late, she sees a furious storm  
Of reproach and trembling in Tenchi's form--  
And too late, Ryo-Ohki enters with gladness,  
As Tenchi turns and on Ryoko pours madness.

And never did lightning strike as loudly  
As these words of anger shouted proudly--  
Bearing down both friend and foe:  
One with remorse, and one with woe.

Surprised with this injury, Ryo-Ohki cries out,  
And surprised, Tenchi turns to see her pout.  
Her eyes all wide, and filled with tears,  
His anger dissolves as his pity he steers.

He chases her now and tries to explain,  
And leaves Ryoko in statue-like pain--  
The grip of despair at the edge of hope--  
Both like the blind, left now to grope.

***

Like one with wounds that stubbornly persist  
Or feverish and away from friends insist,  
Ryo-Ohki hid wherever spaces could hide,  
To wait out the tempest deep inside.

The creature in anguish hid in a place  
That was far from any familiar face--  
Except one usually with much to do:  
Washu--who was worried and asked for a clue.

So, away went Ryo-Ohki--in sorrow, she flew.  
Meanwhile, the others, searched high and low--  
Mihoshi thought she knew where to go:  
As it was teatime, her want would prove true.

Tenchi, who knew Ryo-Ohki very well,  
Knew just where she might her sadness quell,  
And ran to the fields where the carrots grew--  
Sure enough, there she was, looking quite blue.

Gentle and kind as a lover's kiss,  
He grabbed up Ryo-Ohki and admitted remiss;  
She, being proud or stubborn or both,  
Made refusal of his kind, playful oath.

But Tenchi insisted, and began to explain  
How he could never truly complain--  
Never about her, but his words were all vain--  
And her sadness she continued to feign.

To prove his will, he made a proposal  
To haul all the carrots there at his disposal--  
And soon he was hauling every carrot in sight,  
Along with Ryo-Ohki, now giddy with delight.

Kindly, Ryo-Ohki beheld his stern features  
And knowing how heavy the carrots each were,  
She took hold of the bag and then she lifted  
Till Tenchi did nothing more than just drifted.

And floating, he chuckled a nervous approval,  
Till seeing a car made him fear reproval;  
And down came Tenchi and all of his cargo  
And lay admist carrots as he watched the car go.

***

Later, they found their way to the gate--  
He with his pack and she with her freight;  
And Ryoko, with a crudely repaired kimono,  
Frowned like a puppy with nowhere to go.

And like shafts of light through a cloudy haze,  
He smiled and dispelled her gloomy malaise;  
So, joyfully, Ryoko exchanged their baggage,  
Running ahead as if from a bad grudge.

At the house, Sasami was very relieved  
And happily she Ryo-Ohki received,  
Vowing to make her her favorite dish  
And fulfill her fondest culinary wish.

But, turning, Ryo-Ohki seemed less eager--  
Or, perhaps, the thought of food more meager--  
Than the cheer that seemed Ryoko's pleasure:  
A shared bit of laughter in modest leisure.

So, later that night, as Sasami lay sleeping,  
One could imagine why Ryo-Ohki was weeping--  
Wiping her face with her sad, furry paw:  
A face that still in her heart, she saw.

***

The next day, Tenchi had not a hunch  
What lay in store as he took his lunch--  
That Sasami happily gave him to eat--  
And Ryo-Ohki offered to relieve his feet.

Tenchi explained that one flight was enough  
As politely he made his light rebuff,  
Leaving Ryo-Ohki saddened once more  
To face her own heart's heavy chore.

This time, willing to share with Washu,  
But she was busy with studies anew--  
So, once again Ryo-Ohki sat at a tank  
And her sad expression turned very blank.

Then in alarm, she looked in the water,  
At what appeared to have just now sought her:  
Little bland creatures with funny little eyes  
And nothing that could impart a disguise.

Washu took notice and let her know  
That once from them Ryo-Ohki did grow--  
Creatures called "mass," the original element--  
So, no wonder, her need for enlightenment.

Then Ayeka appeared and told the two  
That teatime presently was due,  
And Washu, surprised, promptly withdrew  
Leaving Ryo-Ohki with her sad ado.

And as the three took the exit away,  
The little bland creatures on display  
Began to slowly come together  
Like little pools in stormy weather.

***

Sitting around at the table they gazed  
And almost seemed as if they were dazed  
To eat rice crackers and eagerly grimace,  
And wonder if the two on TV would kiss.

Meanwhile, a siren in the lab spring-bound  
And began to emit a loud warning sound  
As the mass creature was now fully formed--  
Whose shape to a humanoid female conformed.

Washu, alerted, turned to go see  
But now the drama soared loftily  
And once more, the two were nearing their aim--  
Then a news break promptly doused their flame.

They all returned to various chores  
As Mihoshi, hearing the news, abhors,  
And Tenchi stopped to begin his repast  
While the creature roved the wooded vast.

Almost at once Washu returned winded,  
And every other task now rescinded--  
A matter of urgency needed their wit,  
One that would all of their resources fit.

***

Back in the lab, they looked in the tank,  
As Washu explained how they had it to thank  
For once holding they that caused this bother--  
And considered it simply Ryoko's father.

To explain exactly what masses were  
The six of them to a view refer  
While four seated properly at each desk--  
Debated how much is Ryoko grotesque.

They discussed its power and tendancies,  
Its history and extravagancies,  
As Ryoko playfully vexed grace  
And Ayeka returned it in her face.

The creature located Tenchi at work  
As Sasami insisted they presently lurk  
And capture it before it assailed--  
By finding the factor from which it trailed.

And deducing Ryo-Ohki to be the solution  
Washu had a machine that in fine resolution  
Would show what memories she had in store  
And allow them to promptly begin to explore.

Deploring this suggestion, Sasami objected  
And would have the notion of it rejected,  
But Ryo-Ohki chose to let herself show  
So they could finally its whereabouts know.

Amongst all the carrots in Ryo-Ohki's mind  
Little figures of themselves they'd find  
And a closer look at more recent things  
Found Ryo-Ohki and Tenchi working in strings.

So, when they saw the pattern of her thoughts  
The girls were reduced to tearful onslaughts  
But, hugging her, now Washu perceived  
An insight that Ayeka fully received--

If the will to help Tenchi is the masses will  
Then they'd best find him lest him it kill;  
For as Washu then added, if it should sense  
His power, it would act in deadly defense.

Ryoko, no longer content to sit by  
Went off in haste, not waiting to fly--  
And off the shield she had a great fall--  
Made a hole in the floor six feet tall.

***

When first he saw the creature approach,  
Tenchi was shocked and fled in reproach  
Of his own weary senses, and may have doubted  
As he saw it start working like one devouted.

So, again from the bushes he returned  
To greet the creature--but it, he learned  
Was not a thing to be trusted at all,  
As he heard the warning in Ayeka's call.

Sasami and Washu added dire predictions--  
The danger he faced secured his convictions,  
Till Mihoshi pleaded for Ryoko's sake  
That "honorable father" not her heart break.

And as Sasami gently refuted her,  
Mihoshi doubtfully then reputed her--  
And Washu warned Ryo-Ohki not to move either,  
But to await the "decoy" soon to be there.

Meanwhile, cursing, Ryoko crawled  
From the door of the lab, briefly stalled,  
As Tenchi, now losing his balance, fell;  
The creature prepared a grim farewell.

Just then, Ryoko showed, as foresaid  
And the creature blasted her instead--  
Ryo-Ohki latching on to the creature's head  
And flailed the creature with furious dread.

But the creature prepared another attack  
To remove Ryo-Ohki from its back;  
So, Washu commanded her to merge at once  
And so, put an end to their fears and hunts.

So, now Ryo-Ohki falls with her prey--  
And assimilated, now she can actually say  
The word "carrot," but needs a hand,  
Or falls over if she tries to stand.

Here, hearts lift in merry cheer,  
And there, some laughter hear--  
But all weary Ryoko can say,  
As she sways is, "What a day!"

***

Later, as Sasami was helping Ryo-Ohki,  
And Tenchi filled another pack fully,  
Ryo-Ohki helped him lift it again,  
And, for her pains, took a backward spin.

THE END  



End file.
